Susan O’Keeffe

Senator Susan O’Keeffe was elected to Seanad Éireann in April 2011 on the Agricultural Panel. Having taken her seat in the Seanad, she was appointed whip of the Labour Party senators and Labour’s Seanad spokesperson on agriculture. She is now spokesperson on tourism and culture.

Senator O’Keeffe is a graduate of UCC and her professional background is in journalism. She worked for a number of Ireland’s leading publications and went on to work for World in Actio at Granada TV. Her first programme there led to the Beef Tribunal which resulted in her being arrested and standing trial to protect her sources. She went on to work as a producer at BBC Current Affairs across a wide range of programme output, including Panorama. She was honoured in the 1994 UK Freedom of Information Awards for her investigation into the Irish and European beef industry. She lives in Sligo and is chair of Yeats2015 National Steering Group, the national and international celebration of the 150th birthday of WB Yeats.